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Monday, June 10, 2013

The "T" Word: Tyranny Is Here

Photograph by author

As I reflected upon the monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C. this week, I was struck by how far we have regressed from the time of our nation’s founding.

The Jefferson Memorial was particularly meaningful for me in light of the present abuses and burdens inflicted upon us by our domineering government. The inscription below the dome reads: “I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

“Tyranny” was one of those words I relegated to political extremism. Resorting to such overblown rhetoric was lazy and a sure way to be dismissed. Calling “tyranny” was on about the same as level as speculating whether or not the President was the Anti-Christ. Silly talk.

Times have changed, however.

In response to the IRS scandal, Jon Stewart lamented, “Well, congratulations, President Barack Obama. Conspiracy theorists, who generally can survive in anaerobic environments, just had an algae bloom dropped on their f–king heads, thus removing the last arrow in your pro-governance quiver.”

No, what really occurred was a partial lifting of the veil. Some of us conspiracy theorists were proven to not be conspiracy theorists at all.

The Democrat Party’s scandals are bad enough. The cover-ups are even worse. But, frankly, expecting it to be otherwise is naive. Abuse of power and circling the wagons is, unfortunately, what we’ve come to expect from Washington.

What is really troubling, though, is the brazen attitude of the Administration coupled with the uncaring attitude of the American people. Or, at least, the same American people who inexplicably decided to re-elect our President this past November.

Benghazi? Eh, Obama appointed Susan Rice as his new National Security Advisor this morning. Take that, America.

IRS scandal? Rep. Jim McDermott let it be known yesterday that we should be happy with the idea that all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. Those tea party groups are highly political, you know.
Your DNA? Hand it over to law enforcement.

DNA checks are about to become as common as showing your driver’s license after yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling. Oh, but the DNA swab will only be used for “serious” crimes. Yeah. Justice Scalia remarked, “If you believe that a DNA search will identify someone arrested for bank robbery, you must believe that it will identify someone arrested for running a red light.” Strike another blow against the Fourth Amendment.

Speaking of the Fourth Amendment, the preservation of individual liberty and protection against abusive government is why we have a Bill of Rights to begin with. Thomas Jefferson said, “A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.” Jefferson also said, “Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” There’s that “t” word again.

In time and by slow operations we have arrived at tyranny today. As Wetumpka Tea Party leader Becky Gerritson reminds us during her testimony before Congress yesterday, “Our representative government has failed us.” Gerritson continued,
I am not here as a serf or vassal.

I am not begging my lords for mercy. I’m a born free American woman, wife, mother and citizen. And I’m telling my government that you’ve forgotten your place. It’s not your responsibility to look out for my well-being, and to monitor my speech. It’s not your right to assert an agenda. Your post, the post that you occupy, exists to preserve American liberty. You’ve sworn to perform that duty. And you have faltered.

Our government has indeed forgotten it’s place. As I toured the monuments of Washington, D.C. this week, I was confronted with the stark contrast between what we have come from and where we stand today. But stand is what we must do. Now is the time to use our freedom of speech while we still have it. We are not serfs or vassals. Those who would be our “lords,” as Gerritson put it, have forgotten their place and ought to be put back in their place. Jefferson believed, “I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.”

Now that tyranny has arrived the question is, what will we do about it? It’s time to find out.

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Beloved child of God. Following Jesus the Christ. Allied with the uniquely beautiful kingdom of God. Prison Pastor, City of Crying Souls. *All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of my employer, my church, or anyone else.